One year later, Bixby is still half-baked

AT&T, Verizon, RIM get serious about security for mobile devices

As commonplace as smartphones have become, it's about time that carriers and manufacturers start getting serious about mobile security (and no, we don't mean iPhone tethers). According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, Verizon is currently working with Lookout, a San Francisco-based company known for remote backup and geolocation apps for BlackBerry, Android, and Windows Mobile devices, while RIM has recently announced a little something called BlackBerry Protect, which promises to lock or even wipe a misplaced phone, pinpoint the thing on a map, and make regularly-scheduled wireless backups. By far the most ambitious plans in the article, however, belong to AT&T, which -- aside from recent deals with MobileIron and McAfee -- is currently opening a new mobile security lab in New York City. From here, the company will research malware, worms, viruses, and other threats as they develop in the mobile sphere. "Everyone is realizing that this is an uncontrolled environment," said AT&T chief security officer Edward G. Amoroso. "We don't want to have the same problems that we had with PCs."